bare ruined choir practice

Menu

What Celebrity Endorsements Can Tell Us

After Donald Trump’s announcement to seek the presidency, virtually all pundits pooh-poohed his high poll numbers as an early election-cycle aberration. After all, early on in 2012, Michelle Bachmann and Herbert Cain had been flying high. Nevertheless, now with 20-plus contests behind us, it appears that the Donald has won the hearts and minds spleens of somewhere between 30% and 40% of Republican primary and caucus voters. Even though these numbers are higher than his opponents’, they still fall short of a majority. The question arises, what might it take to push Trump above the 50% level? Could celebrity endorsements help?

Obviously, critically acclaimed celebrities often cast their lot with liberal Democrats, so it’s no surprise that Trump isn’t garnering as many high-end celebrity endorsements as Bernie (Susan Sarandon, Will Farrell, Danny DeVito) or Hillary (Beyonce, Lena Dunham, Robert de Niro). Nevertheless, several celebrities have endorsed Donald, and a quick glance at a few of them might tell us something about Trump’s appeal.

Let’s start with Hulk Hogan. Born Terry Eugene Bollea, son of Pietro Bollea, Hogan has, according to Wikipedia, Italian, French, and Panamanian heritage. Although most famous for his career as a professional wrestler, Hogan started off as a bassist, another profession that can feature head-banging.

Donald Trump supporter Kid Rock, a native of Detroit, is such an important artist that Wikipedia divides his career in eras – the hip-hop era, the rap rock era, the Southern rock revivalist era, and the Heartland rock era. Actually, Kid Rock originally endorsed Dr. Ben Carson but has subsequently gone over to Trump. One thing that Kid Rock and Trump share is antipathy towards Megyn Kelly. After the Charleston Massacre when Al Sharpton’s NAN Chapter threatened to boycott Rock’s shows, which prominently display Confederate flags, Rock emailed Megyn Kelly at Fox News with this Trumpian response: “Please tell the people that (sic) are protesting me, that they can kiss my ass.”

Mike Tyson needs no introduction. The former heavyweight champion says he supports Trump because he wants “to try something new.” By the way, there have been no reports of ear biting at any Trump rallies.

And, let’s put this post to a merciful end by naming one last Trump celebrity endorser, Gary Busey, the movie actor and star of Celebrity Rehab. Busey, famously, fractured his skull in a motorcycle wreck in 1988. Dr. Charles Sophy, a psychiatrist on the show, conjectured that “Busey’s brain injury had a greater effect” on him than he originally realized. According to Wikipedia, Sophy recommended “Busey take valproic acid (Depakote), with which Busey agreed.”

So there you have it. Three out of these Trump celebrity endorsers have suffered brain trauma. Kid Rock doesn’t appear to have suffered any head injuries, even though someone named Jason McNeil got sucker punched at one of his shows and is suing the promoter for $150 million because he’s suffering from “a severe brain injury.”

Perhaps beating up protesters at these rallies has an ulterior motive?